Director Rory Owen Delaney, left, and producer Wade Smith took their “Red v. Blue” filming to U of L basketball games and directly to fans, such as at a Louisville boxing gym.
(Photo:
Photo courtesy Red v. Blue
)

Though producer Wade Smith poured two years of work into his “Red v. Blue” film, a documentary-style look into the University of Louisville-University of Kentucky basketball rivalry, he was surprised to see it get “a great reception” in both Lexington and Louisville.

It’s just not easy to please both sides of the Battle for the Bluegrass.

“That was our goal and intent — to make it as unbiased as we possibly could and show something both teams could be proud of,” Smith, a Paintsville native and UK fan said.

Smith saw crowds applaud the premiere both in Lexington and Louisville at the Muhammad Ali Center when it premiered, and he hopes for more of it when “Red v. Blue” returns to the big screen.

Directed by Rory Delaney, a Louisville native who cheers for U of L, “Red v. Blue,” will show on three consecutive Fridays this month and next before the DVD becomes available in March.

Shows at the Village 8 Theater, 4014 Dutchmans Lane, are scheduled for 7 and 9 p.m. on Jan. 24, Jan. 31 and Feb. 7 Admission is $5.

After finishing filming in October, “Red v. Blue” premiered in December. The film features interviews with key players in the rivalry, sports journalists and bloggers from around the state.

“We’ve had both Cardinals fans and Wildcats fans tweeting about the film and sending us emails saying they loved it,” Smith said. “This film is more the story as these are the two teams, these are why they didn’t play each other for so long, here’s the rivalry and here’s why the state of Kentucky has the best college basketball in the country.

“Both teams can relate to that, so we got really good reception.”

Jonathan Lintner can be reached at (502) 582-4199; follow him on Twitter @JonathanLintner.